CALL FOR PROPOSALS

DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

Sponsored by The Alabama Council of Teachers of English

"Asian American Literature: Embracing the Voices"

January 21, 2006
Birmingham, Alabama

In April 2000, The Alabama Council of Teachers of English adopted a Diversity Policy.  One part of which is to conduct an annual Diversity Conference to serve as a venue for teachers to learn new strategies to infuse the literary offerings in their classrooms with a diversity of voices.

The first two conference themes were The Greatness of African American Art and Literature and Celebrating Latino Culture.

Our theme for the 2006 Diversity Conference Asian American Literature: Embracing the Voices is adapted from the words of Amy Ling, the founder of the Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Asian American literature has several purposes: to remember the past, to give voice to a hitherto silent people with an ignored and        
    therefore unknown history, to correct stereotypes of an exotic or foreign experience and thus, as Hong Kingston says, to claim America
    for the thousands of Americans whose Asian faces too frequently deny them a legitimate place in this country of their birth.
            From "Teaching Asian American Literature" Heath Anthology Newsletter

Help us share the beauty and richness of Asian American Literature by presenting a concurrent session at the Diversity Conference.  Focus on topics such as authors, a specific work, art, religion, folklore, or storytelling.

Proposals are due no later than December 10, 2005 to:
Elaine N. Hill, Birmingham City Schools,
410 13th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35233

Click here for application for proposals.